NIFL weekly report

by Rocky Larson
Published on April 19, 2001 under National Indoor Football League (NIFL)

by Rocky Larson

Week four of the NIFL season brought home what indoor football is all about: big hits, dramatic endings and plenty of scoring. As the National Indoor Football League website reported, "Scoring was up throughout the league as offenses got on track and, if that was not enough excitement, Casper and Rapid City came down to one play, 2 seconds left in the game, and over 100 points already on the scoreboard! It doesn't get any better than this."

Teams combined to average an impressive 84 points per game with the home team winning four of the seven games this week. Home teams scored an average of 48 points while the away teams pulled in a respectable average of 36 points.

With a 5-2 picks record I've stayed in the good graces of the football gods for yet another week. My overall record for the year: 11-3.

Only two teams have a bye as the NIFL enters into a busy football weekend.

Thursday, April 19th

• Sioux City Bandits (0-2) @ Southern Oregon Heat (0-2)
  One team will end their 2 game skid while the other falls to 0-3. The Heat is dealing with QB and coaching problems while the Bandits are searching for that winning chemistry. My thinking is that experience comes out on top. Bandits finally tag one in the W column.

Friday, April 20th

• Tri-City Diesel (1-2) @ Billings Outlaws (0-2)
  After 2 divisional losses in 2 weeks, the Outlaws are looking forward to playing in the friendly confines of the Metra. The Diesel have also lost 2 games to divisional rivals of the former IFL. Lets make it 3. Outlaws win in a mild upset.

Saturday, April 21st

• Sioux Falls Storm (2-0) @ Wyoming Calvary (3-0)
  The best team that Sioux Falls has beaten: expansion Kearney, Neb. The best team that Wyoming has beaten: seasoned Rapid City, SD. Wyoming could move onto an impressive 4-0 record in both overall and divisional play this week. Tack on the fact that they are at home and that means the Calvary stay undefeated.

• Utah Express (1-1) @ Yakima Shockwave (2-1)
  In their first meeting Utah won by 14 points in hostile territory. The Shockwave are working to string 2 wins in a row together. A raunchy home crowd and last weeks win will be the key. Shockwave win in a squeaker.

• Tupelo FireAnts (0-1) @ Mobile Seagulls (0-1)
  These two teams have plenty in common. Both teams played their first NIFL games this past week. Both teams faced off against the top 2 teams in the Power Poll. Both lost big. Here's to the home-field advantage. Seagulls pull even at 1-1.

• Lake Charles Landsharks (1-0) @ River Cities Locomotives (0-3)
  The Landsharks are well rested as they are coming off of their second bye in 3 weeks. The Locomotives are anything but rested, having given up twice as many points as they have scored. Could the Loco's first home game be the answer to their problems? Nope. Landsharks win in a blowout.

• OV Greyhounds (1-1) @ Johnstown J-Dogs (3-0)
  The J-Dogs haven't been in a game this season that was even remotely close. That spells trouble for the Greyhounds. Johnstown moves onto an intimidating 4-0 and grabs an early lock on the Eastern Division.

• Louisiana Bayou Beast - Monroe (0-1) @ Louisiana Rangers - Alexandria(1-1)
  Both teams are coming off of a bye week and are looking forward to this in-state rivalry. Both would like to put week 2 losses behind them. But can the Rangers regain their confidence after being demolished by 49 at home? The Beast could shake them up with some fast scoring. That is exactly what will happen. The Bayou Beast steal a win.

NIFL Week Three Power Poll

In honor of their contribution to this column, I will be spotlighting the contributors to the NIFL Power Poll over the next few weeks. This week's armchair GM is Rapid City's own Bob Laskowski. Bob is a 30-year Rapid City sportscaster, six-time South Dakota Sportscaster of the Year and member of the Rapid City Sports Hall of Fame. Bob is the Sports Director of KOTA Radio 1380 and is the voice of the Rapid City Red Dogs.

In the power poll each team is ranked from 1 to 50 by a panel of NIFL experts. The scores are then averaged per team and ranked according to power.

• 46.8 Johnstown J-Dogs (3-0) The J-Dogs are the undisputed powerhouse of the Eastern Division and possible the whole league. Johnstown may as well start selling playoff tickets now.
• 44.3 Mississippi Firedogs (2-0) Biloxi is showing the poise and talent that led them to a league title last year. The Firedogs are the Scourge of the Southern Division.
• 41.3 Wyoming Calvary (3-0) 3 overall wins. 3 wins in the tough Central Division. Can the Calvary control a game? Let me spell it out for you: Y-E-S.
• 39.0 Sioux Falls Storm (2-0) Sioux Fall's enters a brutal 3-game road-trip this week against opponents' with just 1 loss between them. Their game this week is key.
• 37.3 Rapid City Red Dogs (2-1) Rapid City almost stole the Calvary's win away this past week on a last second pass.
• 31.5 Yakima Shockwave (2-1) Yakima has this indoor football business figured out. The Shockwave are proving to be a solid team.
• 27.8 Ohio Valley Greyhounds (1-1) The good news: Wheeling gets to play the Locomotives (0-3) 3 more times! The bad news: Wheeling gets to play the J-Dogs (3-0) 5 times!
• 27.7 Utah Express (1-1) Utah has the talent to be a +.500 team. They need "butts in seats" to create a home-field advantage.
• 25.5 Lake Charles Land Sharks (1-0) We haven't seen much of this team due to them having 2 byes in 3 weeks. They're well rested. They also have to play football for 13 straight weeks.
• 21.0 Mobile Seagulls (0-1) This team is too talented to be below .500 for long. Expect their stock to rise as the season progresses.
• 18.3 Tri City Diesel (1-2) That first elusive win is now out of the way even if it came from out of their division.
• 17.0 Louisiana Rangers (1-1) The sooner they forget about their recent 55-6 loss the better.
• 15.7 Louisiana Bayou Beast (0-1) This team has the potential to rise into the top half of the Power Poll in a very short time. But potential doesn't necessarily net results.
• 14.3 Billings Outlaws (0-2) The Outlaws need to start playing consistent football if they want to climb out of their 0-2 start.
• 13.8 Tupelo FireAnts (0-1) Tupelo needs to come out of their marathon 6-game road-trip with something in the W column.
• 13.0 Sioux City Bandits (0-2) What happened to the hard-charging Sioux City defense of a year ago?
• 11.8 Southern Oregon Heat (0-2) The Heat seem to be having problems adapting to the speed and dynamics of the indoor game.
• 9.5 River Cities Locomotives (0-3) Is it too early to begin planning for next year?

National Indoor Football League Stories from April 19, 2001

• NIFL weekly report - OSC Original by Rocky Larson

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.